With a fall chill in the air, Veterans Day weekend is a perfect time to start enjoying outdoors activities in Florida again. The weather is cool enough to hike or bike or kayak or camp.
Better yet, all the best parks in Florida are FREE on Sunday.
Florida state parks have a fee-free day Sunday in honor of Veterans Day. National parks are free for the whole three-day weekend, Nov. 10-12.
Where to go? It’s a great time to visit the Everglades, where admission is normally $10. Here are two of my favorite Everglades experiences:
- Biking the Shark Valley bike trail off the Tamiami Trail.
- Paddling one of the canoe trails. I’ve paddled two I can personally recommend: Nine Mile Pond, a five mile loop through a vast shallow sawgrass marsh dotted with mangrove and tree islands, and Bear Lake Canoe Trail, a out-and-back paddle along a straight man-made historic waterway through thick mangroves. Both offer good wildlife viewing, including birds, gators and crocodiles.
Volunteers fire the cannons at Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in St. Augustine.
Entrance “tunnel” to the Castle Windy Trail at Canaveral National Seashore
A bicyclest gets perhaps a little too close to a gator at the Shark Valley path in Everglades National Park.
Other National Parks in Florida with entrance fees that will be waived:
- Canaveral National Seashore, Titusville and New Smyrna Beach
- Castillo De San Marcos National Monument, St. Augustine
- Everglades National Park, Miami and Homestead
- Dry Tortugas National Park, Key West
- Gulf Islands National Seashore, Gulf Springs
- Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge
- Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge
There are never any entrance fees to these parks:
- Big Cypress National Park
- Biscayne National Park
- De Soto National Monument, Bradenton
- Fort Matanzas National Monument, St. Augustine
- Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, Jacksonville
Related articles on Florida Rambler:
- Everglades National Park visitor guide
- Castillo San Marcos, historic St. Augustine fort
- Fort Matanzas National Monument, St. Augustine
- Apollo Beach, Canaveral National Seashore
- Castle Windy Trail at Canaveral National Seashore
- Shark Valley: Best bike trail in South Florida
- Tips on visiting Everglades National Park
- Everglades canoe trail: Nine Mile Pond
- Stops along scenic Tamiami Trail, including Everglades National park
- Nine Mile Pond in Everglades National Park
